Entry 02 Andi Aukshunas A.

Career

Jul 31

Portland graphic designer and founder of Old City Mailroom, Andi Aukshunas, shares her thoughts on career, having a small business and what that means for other areas of her life. Video excerpt below.

“As much as I love my job, I know that there will be things more important to me. At the same time, I don't know if I would ever be able to fully let go of it because I just always gravitate back to doing what I do.”

I'm Andi Aukshunas, I'm 28—I had to think about that one. I've been in Portland for the past four years, before that I lived in Tennessee.

Alba: Could you paint a brief picture of yourself, who you are and what you hold dear?

Andi: I’m an entrepreneur, a creative, a wife as of fairly recently. Home is something I hold most dear; it is definitely my grounding spot. It's been an important priority in our life to create space in our home where other people hopefully feel welcome, too, and that feels like we can just come home and rest. Marriage in my life is a core piece of the puzzle, that's also where I come back to find grounding and something that Kyle and I try to work and grow in because I think having stability with your spouse enables you to better other relationships. My spirituality is very important to me, it looks different over the past years or past decade, you know. It kind of ebbs and flows what it looks like but it's essentially how all our decisions are made, where our personal conviction comes from, and how we choose to operate in life. It’s where a desire to serve well comes from. It’s another thing that keeps me grounded in life, it keeps me rooted and gives me purpose and hope. I would say those are the main things.

My work as a designer, too, is a huge extension of myself but I also just identify as a designer, even if that wasn't my job. It’s such a wide stretching term that applies to so much for me.

Al: What is your favorite indulgence?

An: Treats. Anything that gives me an excuse to have a little pick me up. Whenever I'm working my days can be such a blur, I just like to have something that's like a little boost. At face value, that’s my response.

Al: What would you say is your top priority in life at this very moment? Very short term.

An: Finding balance. I think there’s this equation of time, energy, money, work, and you know if you put everything into one of those then the others are lacking. In the past, I’ve definitely put more emphasis in one or the other and with the privilege of flexibility in my job that's something that I want to be taking advantage more of, creating balance in my life. Being able to do the hosting and the homemaking, that part of my identity, while also creating really quality work at my job, and also being a good wife.

Al: What are you currently inspired by?

An: Going off what I was sharing in my last response about balance, something that has inspired and gotten my wheels turning is just seeing how other families live and prioritize their life; seeing how they find balance and the lifestyle that they choose. I think for a while, I kind of gave into the narrative of looking at all of these homes or families that seem super polished and put together, I was just always striving for that. Oddly enough, I've been more inspired lately by families that I know and friends that I've grown up with and seeing how their families operate and how they live with less—they’re fine with a hand-me-down couch and things like that—and because of those choices, they've been able to have more time because they don't have to work as much to uphold the finances that afford a certain lifestyle. That’s something that has inspired me to think differently about how we prioritize. Kind of an unconventional answer… I don't know if you've seen the documentary called The Minimalists, they talk in there about how marketing is manipulation of our God given taste. It’s so crazy to think, if we didn't have social media, what would my house look like? what would my wardrobe look like? If we didn't see what other people were doing and see the same things over and over. How do we undo that, to know what are God given is without all the outside influence?

Al: What do you think of as career?

An: Well, I was thinking about looking it up before you came over because I feel like I have such an outdated idea of career. Honestly, people seem a lot less centered around career. When I think career, I think like a middle-aged man at a desk job that overtime works to gain promotions and work his way up the ladder. When I think about career in my life, I hold it really loosely because when I hear the term it feels so long term and when people have asked ‘where do you see yourself in five years’, I've never had an answer. If I were to look back five years, there’s no way I would have said that I would be where I am right now—everything was different—there's no way I would have known. I think that's how I feel about the future, too. Maybe we’ll have kids, I'll be working part time, maybe we'll be living back in Tennessee… but you know, we don't even know if we can have kids, like, biologically, we just have no idea. I think I hold everything really loosely when it comes to career and I think that's kind of why I have gravitated towards keeping my business just me, rather than growing to a team, because I know that I can get out whenever I want to, if I want to.

“I like trusting the natural way that things are rolled out, how certain people have pulled me to grow. In that way it’s not like I’m going ahead and pulling my work to catch up, it’s like the work is out there and then it calls me to catch up. I just kind of follow where it leads and it’s worked so far.”

Al: Do you often think about your career and what role it plays in your life?

An: Yes and no. In the back of my mind, I think through a timeline of my life, thinking through what's on the horizon and trying to mentally prepare for that and how that would affect my career. I guess with that in mind, career as far as my job isn't the number one priority necessarily. As much as I love my job, I know that there will be things more important to me. At the same time, I don't know if I would ever be able to fully let go of it because I just always gravitate back to doing what I do. I just don't know what to expect in the future. I'm kind of open to whatever that would look like, I think the biggest question mark is what motherhood will look like and how does that coincide with career.

As far as my work with my business, from the starting point to where I am now, it's evolved so much. It's continually evolving, I really like that about it. I'm not necessarily somebody who starts the year and sets out thinking this is where I'm going to grow to, this is the kind of work I'm going to try to do, this is the client I'm going to try to work with—I kind of let things guide me. I think in a way, I like trusting the natural way that things are rolled out, how certain people have pulled me to grow. In that way it's not like I'm going ahead and pulling my work to catch up, it's like the work is out there and then it calls me to catch up. I just kind of follows where it leads and it’s worked so far.

Al: What would you like to be doing if you weren't doing graphic design?

An: If I weren't allowed to do graphic design—I would have to not be allowed to because I would always choose to do that—but if I had to do something else, I think it would probably be product design. In my own life I'm always kind of creating new things that are different from what you buy at a store because store bought options aren’t usually what I want.

Al: Do you feel like your family, whether your parents/siblings, or now your husband, have had an influence in how your career has unfolded?

An: I don't think that my parents ever intentionally influenced my career path. My dad is an entrepreneur so, I guess maybe it's in my genetics, but he never necessarily pushed me to be an entrepreneur as well. I think they definitely have wanted to know that I’m self-sustaining and able to take care of myself. When I moved out to Oregon and started my own business, you know, when it was a little bit less stable—to put it gently, they maybe had some hesitations at that point and tried to offer a little bit more guidance. They've probably been surprised at the success of my business and they’re more reassured now.

My husband has been a humongous support from day one, even when things were really shaky with my business and unpredictable. He's just been my biggest cheerleader and on the days that I don't believe in myself or I'm worried for the future or overwhelmed, he's always there to remind me why I'm doing it or offer a helping hand to do something that’s going to keep me going. I’m super grateful, it would definitely be harder to do it alone. I think he knows that, you know, that I was made to do this, I think he really sees how my identity works in it.

“There’s a soul connection that happens with people who understand that mindset and pursuit, you do have a kind of relationship with those people that you might not with people who are your closest friends outside of work. So, a little bit of both.”

Al: How has what you do for a living shaped your inner circle, do you feel like many of your close friends have come to be through work-related connections? Are most of your close friends local?

An: Some of my close relationships have been intertwined with my career and my business, but I would say my very closest friends are more so people who I just share a similar worldview with, that's who I tend to gravitate towards and those are the relationships that are easier for me to operate in and feel safe in. I definitely have made so many relationships from my business and so many really good friends—not necessarily my tightly knit circle—but definitely many close friends through the domino effect of knowing this person who introduces you to this group of people. On the client end of things, too, a lot of people that I’ve worked with become friends, pretty close friends that I stay in touch with or have coffee with. I think there is definitely a unique element of being in the creative industry that you connect with those people. There's a soul connection that happens with people who understand that mindset and pursuit, you do have a kind of relationship with those people that you might not with people who are your closest friends outside of work. So, a little bit of both.

“The other side of the coin is not knowing what the future is, I can make it whatever I want it to be.”

Al: Do you feel like knowing where you’re at in terms of career or what you do for work, has an impact in other areas of your life—not necessarily a financial impact, but more so, whether your perception of your own professional development somehow affects other instances emotionally or mentally?

An: I think being an entrepreneur is a vulnerable thing. You don’t have the security of a 9-5 job. When you're an entrepreneur you are having to forge every next step, you're having to make continual decisions. If you're not really putting your heart and soul into it then it's not going to keep going. It feels like there's a lot more at stake and it does require a lot more emotional investment, I think.

On the one hand, I desire maybe more predictability at home, or my marriage, or weekly routine; I try to find that structure in other ways. Wanting to know what our life plan is, where we're going to live the next few years, etc., just desiring predictability somewhere since, you know, with businesses it can be elusive not knowing. You don’t know where next year looks like.

On the other hand, it does allow for a lot more flexibility, my career specifically does at least, because of being able to choose. The other side of the coin is not knowing what the future is, I can make it whatever I want it to be; I could live wherever I want, I could do whatever kind of projects I want. There’s definitely a freedom that comes with it, too. It affects me emotionally and I wouldn’t say that it necessarily affects my marriage, but my spouse being willing to listen to me process through all that and having the support is a huge aspect of navigating that.

I’m seeking to just work through a lot of that, so that I do have maybe a stronger balance of work and life and boundaries.

Al: Through your career changes and/or growth, what about you do you feel remains unchanged?

An: I guess I'd say it comes down to the core values of who I am as a person, wanting to do my work with integrity. Even thinking back to the ice cream job, when it became not so fun anymore a lot of people stopped working there, I was the only person that actually stayed through the entire summer season of working there, everyone else kind of like trickled off. I hope that kind of speaks to my level of integrity and commitment and follow through. That’s something that I think millennial culture strives to be consistent because it's so easy to just kind of dip out when things aren't ideal. I really believe in supporting people well, just wanting to serve people well and do the job with excellence, even if it's just being on time, doing all the work right, cleaning up. I guess that seems like a basic expectation but it's not always.

“Yeah… at 22 I was in college, and I remember they would have different designer guest speakers from different firms and staff come in and talk with us, and I just remember feeling like to ever get to where they were was impossible. ”

Al: If you could give 22-year-old Andi any career advice, what would that be?

An: Looking back at myself, personally, I think I would have told myself you're doing all the right things, keep going, things are going to work out. There will be ups and downs with it but you're going to end up where you want to be if that's what you're striving for and working hard towards. Because I remember, yeah… at 22 I was in college, and I remember they would have different designer guest speakers from different firms and staff come in and talk with us, and I just remember feeling like to ever get to where they were was impossible. I wish I could go back and tell myself—if I were myself now to go talk to the class, and myself then to see me and maybe be like hey this is you know this is where you're going to end up, this is what you could come back and share with the class. I would have had no idea.

So, I think having faith that things will work out if you really work towards what you're passionate about and you take the steps to get there, relentlessly, then it can happen. There are definitely scary points that would happen from point A to point B but it's all part of that process.

I guess kind of just a practical matter, I would say to have the confidence to just try for things. Even just thinking about my first design job, I just went in—I think I emailed and maybe sent my resume. I don't know if I heard back or not, but I just went into the design studio and I was like, hey I'm Andi! I think maybe I dropped off my resume or something. Just kind of going that extra mile, even if it feels scary or silly—what do you have to lose, you might as well try for what you want.

Treating people well has gotten me far, too, you know, just being kind to people and forming genuine relationships. I can look back at traces of where my work comes from now and it’s because I knew this person, or I had coffee with this person.